Where We Stand
by Kay Willow
Summary: A party presents Orihime with what she can't have, and what she already does have. It's nice to know where you stand. //Chad/Orihime, onesided Ichigo/Orihime//


**.where we stand.**

Orihime loved parties; she liked the way they were crowded and loud and the way people bumped into other people and the way you couldn't be sure exactly what you were drinking, really. It was very exciting and overwhelming, a rush of adrenaline and sensory input with nowhere to go but straight to the brain stem. Who could say whether or not at this very minute, only a foot away, two people who would be together forever were meeting for the first time because their shoulders had touched accidentally? Who could say whether or not it was an accident or a clandestine meeting?

She loved parties; she just was nervous about going to them with Chad.

"Let's go!" Orihime said brightly.

"Are you sure?" Chad murmured, not moving, like some sort of giant man-shaped boulder blocking the path into Ishida's apartment.

"Yes, I'm sure! We can't just stand out here all night," she reminded him, frowning, and waved her arms. "It's _freezing_. Only snowmen would be happy spending the night out here!"

Chad's gaze was dark and slightly concerned under the fringe of his hair; it drove her crazy, that fringe of hair, like whoever cut his hair was jealous of Orihime's relationship with him and tried to hide Yasutora from her. But he stepped out of the way and opened the door for her, and held it open while she kicked off her shoes and wriggled out of her coat and bounded into the apartment.

"Ishida-kuuun!"

But her call was drowned out before it ever reached the guest of honor, leaving her standing in the doorway with her hands clutching at the gift she'd gotten him. For some reason she hadn't expected Ishida's party to be the same sort of party she had been thinking of outside; he was so dignified and reserved in school, she'd just assumed that he'd have a small, intimate gathering with a few friends, but it seemed like he'd invited half the class.

"Yo," Ichigo said, manifesting out of nowhere and nearly making her jump. "What do you think? I figured if Keigo put up a few fliers and Mizuiro brought the beer, Ishida might actually have a chance to make some damn friends."

_Ah,_ Orihime thought, and almost shoved the gift at him just to get it out of her arms. She clutched it tighter to her chest instead. "Kurosaki-kun, did Ishida-kun know you were doing this?"

"No. Hey, Chad," he added, nodding in greeting. Chad nodded back, silent, with his lips curled up just slightly around the edges. "You look different."

"Orihime picked this out," Chad said. She _had_ (Rukia-san had said it; if you can find a man who will wear what you pick out for him, keep him; and she had, and she thought she might) and Orihime had assured him as often as she could find the breath to do so that he looked absolutely gorgeous, in a tight wine t-shirt so dark as to be almost black, and it made him look powerful and elegant like something out of a magazine or, or a romance novel.

"You look gorgeous," Orihime assured him. "Doesn't he?"

"It's better than Halloween. Although anything's better than beauty and the beast," Ichigo said philosophically.

(Orihime had worn the beast costume, complete with furry mask and gloves, and she had been very excited about it; Chad had been in a gold gown, and extremely quiet and unresponsive the entire evening.)

"I thought Halloween was fun," Orihime murmured, crestfallen, and Chad said swiftly, "I don't care what I wear."

Ichigo snorted. "Obviously. You're the guy who wears Hawaiian shirts outside of school. Karin's right about you, you've got no taste."

"Don't say that!" Orihime scolded him. "Karin-chan and Yasutora-kun are friends!"

Ichigo's eyebrows raised skeptically, and he glanced back at Chad, saying, "You're Yasutora-kun now?"

Chad made a slightly inaudible grunting sound that might have been acknowledgment, or discomfort, or maybe something stuck in his throat. Orihime flushed.

But (of course) Ichigo didn't seem jealous (he never had) and only grinned at Chad. "Yasutora-kun had better be as tough as Chad, because I'm counting on you to take care of Inoue."

And he smiled at her, unusually warm and soft and sweet, like he might have smiled for his sisters, and Orihime thought she might melt into the ground.

"She can take care of herself," Chad said, and it felt like she'd almost forgotten he was there; she started, guiltily. "I'm just watching her back."

That was it, that was why. Orihime turned to smile at him, to wrap her hands around his arm and murmur his name and be _grateful_ for him. Ichigo chuckled and let them be.

She liked being with Chad at parties. Liked having him at her back, big and steady and pulled in her wake like a buoy caught in the waves she made, and she liked touching his strong arm or having him put an arm around her to steer her away from trouble. She liked _feeling_ like people were looking at them, and seeing that she was _with_ someone, instead of seeing a silly girl here by herself. Orihime never had to _worry_ with him.

But it made her nervous, too, because she knew that Chad was watching her so closely, so sympathetically, when she was with Ichigo. Orihime hated thinking that _he_ might be thinking he was second-best -- a replacement for the one she really wanted.

Orihime couldn't imagine a world where she wouldn't have fallen in love with Ichigo, but she was starting to think that it was easy to love more than just one person.

"You say such nice things to me," Orihime fretted.

"Nice things?" Chad echoed.

There were so many things, really. She bumped against his side, tucking her arm around his securely, and pointed out the most recent. "What you said about watching my back." And _not_ protecting her. Like she could be a comrade and a partner instead of just a princess in a tower. Like she could be like Ichigo.

Chad's lips quirked up very slightly. "That was only the truth."

But he was the first person who'd _ever_ thought that she didn't need to be wrapped in swaddling cloth: Ishida and Ichigo and Renji and Urahara and, everyone really, they had all thought she was helpless, and Chad had been the only one who had keenly felt the pain of being dismissed.

Chad glanced down at their tangled fingers as if he wasn't sure what she was doing.

"Where is Ishida-kun?" she said, frowning. "If I have to hold onto his present all evening, my arms will get tired and fall off."

"I can hold it," Chad offered, holding out his other arm, and Orihime eyed the gift he was already carrying and shook her head. She wasn't going to be one of _those_ girlfriends.

"Let's just find him -- ah! Can you see him?" Orihime tilted her head back to look all the way up at him from her bad angle; he was a giant, surely he'd be able to find their slender friend in the press of bodies.

After a beat, glancing around, Chad said simply, "He's not in the room. Maybe in his bedroom."

Orihime hesitated a beat, orienting herself before heading in the vague direction she _thought_ she remembered Ishida's bedroom being in, the one time she'd ever been here before (he had forgotten the thread he'd bought especially for a sewing club meet). They passed Keigo, and Chizuru, and Renji and Rukia; Orihime waved at them, towing Chad behind her by the arm.

Her knocking was drowned out by the music, so Orihime just let herself in, calling, "Ishida-kun? We have presents!"

"Inoue-san?"

He straightened up as she came in; he and Tatsuki, of all people, had been sitting on his futon, leaning against the wall and watching TV. Orihime smiled hesitantly at Tatsuki, who grinned back.

"Close the door," Ishida said, glancing away. He looked cross.

"I made this guy come in here instead of chasing everyone out the front door," Tatsuki explained. "He's pissed off."

"Haa," Orihime said, because she'd suspected he would be, and then rushed on to say brightly, "But having lots of guests means having lots of friends, and having lots of friends means having lots of presents! I'm kind of jealous, I hope I get as many people coming to my birthday party~"

Chad shut the door behind him and nudged her into the room a little. "Here," he said mutedly.

Ishida looked up at him, expression easing slightly. He stood up to take the proffered gift. "Thank you, Sado-kun. Inoue-san." He ducked politely to them both.

"Wanna watch TV?" Tatsuki offered, holding up the remote.

Since Ishida didn't seem about to object, Orihime glanced behind her at Chad to see what he thought of it, but he was expressionless, like a man-shaped boulder. So she needled him, "You don't want to go back to the party, do you?"

Chad shook his head a little, and only said, "You do, though."

Which was sweet of him, but Orihime wasn't going to be one of _those_ girlfriends. "This is a party too," she said, beaming at him. "There are presents, and there's entertainment, and there are friends, and that's what a party is about."

The element of surprise, of what-if, of maybe, that was gone in this cozy little room with only the four of them watching pre-taped gameshows on TV -- although she found herself eyeing Tatsuki and Ishida thoughtfully. But Chad's arm was around her shoulders, and she was warm and content and in good company.

It was just as good, she thought, to know where you stood.


End file.
